


Devil's Backbone

by wildimaginingsofhalfbakedideas



Category: Smallville
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-04-26 23:19:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14412651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildimaginingsofhalfbakedideas/pseuds/wildimaginingsofhalfbakedideas
Summary: What if Helen never came back to marry Lex and Lex never ended up on that island? What if Lex had been the one to reach out to Clark in Metropolis instead of Lana?





	1. Original sin

**Author's Note:**

> Oh Lord, oh Lord  
> What have I done?  
> I've fallen in love with a man on the run  
> Oh Lord, oh Lord, I'm begging you please  
> Don't take that sinner from me

Lex was certainly no angel. He had done unspeakable things, things in the dark backrooms of Metropolis’ seediest clubs, things in the bright offices of LuthorCorp, that would make ordinary, moral citizens cringe. Hear no evil, see no evil, do no evil. His sins washed blood red over his past, shading everything a hazy grey; there was no black and white as far as Lex was concerned. Even here, under Smallville’s innocent, watchful eye, Lex had strayed far from the path of righteousness. Only his own will and a singular voice of reason kept Lex from falling completely into the pits of hell. Damn Clark Kent and his unwavering faith that humans, even Lex Luthor, were ultimately good. It only made surviving Lex's father that much harder. 

‘To kill a monster, sometimes you must first become the monster.’ At the moment, Lex couldn't remember who had written that particular quote, but he blamed it on the alcohol. It was only three in the afternoon, but already Lex's motor skills were badly impaired and he could do little more than hold his head up under the weight of his own inebriation. He hated the part of him that still wished Helen would walk through the doors of his study and forgive him. It had been two days and he still hadn’t heard a word from her. Cancelling the wedding had been humiliating and terrible. He wanted to forget the look on Helen’s face when he confessed what he’d done, wanted to forget the pity his former wedding guests sent his way when he announced that the wedding was off. He took another sip of his drink, draining the glass. What surprised him most, perhaps, was that Clark hadn’t been there, hadn’t come to visit him since the announcement. Of all people, Clark’s company was perhaps the only one he could handle right now, and maybe, if he admitted it to himself, the only one he wanted.

Lex sighed heavily and lost the war against his own body, slumping forward to rest his head on the pillow of his folded arms. That was nice. He could sleep here. He felt no desire to move from this position in the foreseeable future, possibly ever. He closed his eyes, trying to drown out the warring voices in his head. One sounded entirely too much like his father, a twisting snake in his mind reminding him of his place, his destiny, his weakness. The other...the other was Clark. A god walking through this garden, all light and strength and goodness. His voice didn't slither like that of the snake; it radiated in every direction, inescapable and undeniable. Lex drifted into the dream, wondering if he was Adam or Eve or if it even mattered.


	2. A god or perhaps just a man

Clark was certainly no saint. He grinned as he thought of his previous life, a wicked thing that warped his face into something his own mother wouldn’t recognize. It had been months since he’d left Smallville for the bright, intoxicating city of Metropolis. The hum of life here made him feel higher than even the red kryptonite. The city’s heartbeat pulsed under his skin and he felt more alive than he ever had.

Clark was glad Lana had decided to stay behind. Asking her had been an impulsive decision, just like every decision he made these days, but she would only have dragged him down. Her sensibilities were too delicate for the life he was leading now. Stealing, bank robbing, picking up strangers in clubs only to leave them disappointed that he never went through with his whispered promises. No, Lana would have only tried to convince him to come back to Smallville, to a life of lies and hiding his abilities, hiding who he was. Here, Clark didn’t have to hide. He used his power to take what he wanted, when he wanted, and then abandon his ill-gotten gains as soon as they began to bore him. Like the girl he’d brought with him to Atlantis. She started getting too touchy, asking too many questions. He watched her walk away from him without an ounce of regret.

“What’s the deal, Kal? Every night you roll in here with a hot piece of ass and every night you leave empty handed. You a monk or somethin’?”

Clark smirked at that. He wouldn’t admit to the bartender, or to anyone, that the person he really wanted was beyond even his grasp.

“What’s the point of starting something if it’s just gonna end badly?” Clark tossed a hundred dollar bill on the bar to pay his tab and headed out into the night. Nighttime in Metropolis was his favorite part of being alive. The energy was different, darker, more dangerous. It made him feel like a god, like he could do anything.

His chest began to burn where the ship had carved the symbol into his chest. It was the only thing that could make him feel fear under the red meteor rock’s influence. He slid into a nearby phone booth and slumped to the ground, pulling off his ring with a gasp. The pain stopped, but he winced as all his emotions rushed back into him like a flood. Regret, sorrow, grief, self-hate, they all hastened to take back their places in his mind. He looked up at the phone. Before he knew what he was doing, he was dialing the number he knew by heart.

“Hello?” Just hearing his mother’s voice brought tears to his eyes. How could he have been so selfish, so unthinking, as to destroy the ship? He had cost his mother more than he could bear.

“Clark? Is that you?” Clark said nothing, just clung to the phone like a lifeline. “ _ Please _ come home,” his mother begged. It was too much. The phone slammed back onto the receiver and the unspent coins clanged as they were spit back out. He put the ring back on.


	3. The Right Person

Three months. It had been three months since Clark had disappeared and no one, not even the best paid, most highly qualified private investigators could find him. There had been rumors of a new player in Metropolis, someone with power and means and no morals, but Lex didn’t believe that that person could be Clark. Martha had told him that Clark was on drugs and that was why he was acting so strangely, why he wouldn’t come home, but Lex had had people look in every alleyway, every drug den, every abandoned building, and still no Clark.

He made his way to the Talon, driving too fast as he always did, and pulled up to park unevenly by the curb. Lana greeted him when he walked in, a greeting he politely returned before ordering a simple black coffee. He had no stomach for anything sweet right now.

He stood by the bar as she poured his coffee, leaning his back against it and watching the other customers. Just three months ago he would have expected to see Clark here, talking and laughing with his friends at one of the tables. But now Clark was gone and Lex had no idea what to do about that.

“Hey, Lex,” Chloe called brightly, stepping up to the bar next to him.

“Ms. Sullivan. How are you doing today?”

“I’m okay. Got a new article I’m writing that’s pretty interesting.” She paused, perhaps sensing that he was too preoccupied to care about whatever article she was writing, and Lex had the distinct impression that he was being studied, flayed apart and dissected beneath Chloe’s insightful eyes. “You’re still worried about Clark, aren’t you?”

Lex didn’t see the point of denying it. “I have used all my resources and still haven’t found him.” His voice sounded hopeless to his own ears.

“You can’t find someone that doesn’t want to be found.”

He supposed that was true, but he couldn’t believe that Clark didn’t want to be found, deep down. He knew how he had felt all those years ago in Metropolis, alone, drowning his emotions in drugs and sex and alcohol. There was a thrill in that kind of life, the kind that got under your skin until it seemed like a part of you, but there was a loneliness to it as well. The Clark he knew wouldn’t want to be lost forever, even if he had wanted to lose himself for a while.

“Perhaps he’s just waiting for the right person to find him,” Lex said absently. He wondered if that person might be Lana. Clark seemed obsessed with her enough that it could be her. But for some reason, that didn’t seem right. Who was Clark waiting for?

Chloe was looking at him thoughtfully. Then she seemed to come to some decision, pulling him by the arm to a more secluded section of the coffee shop. Normally, Lex would have protested at being manhandled that way, but it seemed like Chloe had something important to say and he wanted to hear it.

“You can’t tell anyone I told you this. Especially not Lana.”

“Scouts honor,” he promised.

“I know where Clark is.” Lex’s brain stuttered to a halt. She...what? All the best investigators money could buy couldn’t find any concrete evidence pointing to where Clark might be, but this high schooler had found him? She was going to make one hell of a reporter.

“Tell me.” He meant it as a command, but it came out as a plea.

He was on the road before she even finished talking.


	4. Absolute power corrupts absolutely

After the events of yesterday, Kal is on edge. First, there had been the very rude wake up call from Mr. Edge’s goons, followed by the conversation with Mr. Edge himself. Then, worse, had been Chloe ambushing him in his home and  _ pushing  _ at him until he snapped. He’d had to physically push her out the door, screaming for her to get out. She was the only one from his old life who knew where he was, the only one he allowed anywhere even  _ close _ to who he was now, but he couldn’t have her knowing any more of his secrets. Least of all the burning symbol on his chest. The worst moment of day came as soon as the door slammed shut in Chloe’s face and Kal ripped the ring from his finger to end the searing pain. Kal disappeared with the ring’s influence, and Clark was left yet again with roiling, untamed emotion. It was Clark that went back home to see his parents. He had watched them from the loft, silent as a ghost. It broke his heart that they were losing the farm, that they had lost the baby, that they were constantly losing so many things because of him. They deserved so much better. They deserved so much better than him. He left.

The ring washed away the pain and left only delicious, seductive power. Again he was a god in Metropolis, unstoppable and unfettered by morals or connections to the past. The only one from Smallville that Kal ever thought about these days, besides Chloe’s infrequent, bothersome visits, was Lex. Lex knew these streets, these clubs. It would be so much  _ fun _ to have Lex here. Lex wouldn’t be boring and try to convince him to go back to Smallville. They could take over the world together! With Kal’s powers and Lex’s intellect, money, and influence, they would truly be gods. Just as Jor-El wanted. A flash of fear at that. Clark must still be inside him somewhere. What was there to fear? Kal was immortal. Nothing should scare him.

Kal rode his motorcycle back to his apartment, taking the long way so that he could feel the wind whip through his hair, could let the sound of the engine drown out the last remnants of  _ Clark _ that remained from his trip home. The combination of the power in his body and the powerful vehicle beneath him soothed his nerves and began to set him in a better mood. Who cares about Mr. Edge or his father or Chloe? He was his own man here, if he could be called such, indestructible as he was, and nothing could touch him so long as he remained Kal.

When he pulled the bike up to the apartment complex, Kal was surprised to see a familiar figure standing in front of his door. It seemed his day would just keep getting better. He grinned to himself, idling his bike, and waited for Lex to come down to him. 

“Clark,” Lex greeted. He looked at home here in Metropolis. Why did he ever leave? “You look good. The city suits you.”

“I was just thinking the same thing about you,” Kal grinned, sharp and predatory. He had seduced as many men in Metropolis as he had women, but none that he wanted so much as he wanted Lex. Lex would never bore him. With Lex it would be...exciting. Fun. Exactly what Kal was looking for.

“I gather you’ve been enjoying yourself since you left,” Lex commented. He was being careful with Kal, thinking he was still Clark Kent. The thought made Kal laugh out loud.

“Yes, I have. Hop on, I’ll show you.” It was a challenge and Kal met Lex’s eyes as he said it. Lex walked over and smoothly swung his leg over the back of the bike, settling himself close to Kal and putting his hands on his shoulders.

“No, like this,” Kal instructed, moving Lex’s hands from his shoulders to his waist. He smirked as he felt Lex’s heartbeat pick up against his back. Maybe he’d been wrong about the person he wanted being out of his grasp.

Kal took off down the now familiar streets, weaving around traffic. The bike was fast, but so much slower than running. It was like playing a video game on easy mode.

They pulled up to Atlantis and Lex let go of his waist. He said nothing about the adrenaline-inducing ride, which only made Kal grin harder. Kal let Lex get off the bike first before smoothly following, putting a hand on the small of Lex’s back and leading him into the club, bypassing the line out front.

“Hey, Kal!” someone greeted. Kal didn’t remember their name, didn’t care to, but they knew who he was. Everyone here knew who he was. He fist bumped the man and kept walking toward the bar.

“Kal?” Lex questioned.

“My birth name. Like it?”

“Very draconian.”

Kal laughed and it was almost a Clark laugh. Almost. “I’ve missed you, Lex,” he said over the noise of the club, leaning in closer so Lex could hear him. “I think you’re the only one from that life that I miss.” It was too much to admit, but Kal shrugged off the warning bells in his head. Once again he thought to himself, “What do I have to fear?”

Lex paused before answering, “Everyone else misses you too. Your parents, your friends. Lana.”

Kal eyed him suspiciously. Was this an attempt to get him to go back? It better not be. “I don’t care,” he said harshly. “The Clark everyone knew is dead. There is no going back.” Lex met his gaze unflinchingly and the eye contact served to soothe some of Kal’s doubts about him. 

“I just want to be here. Now,” he said, gesturing to the club around them, the bodies dancing, covered in sweat and glitter. He moved even closer into Lex’s space. “And I’d love for you to be here with me.” He had lowered his voice, letting his breath ghost over Lex’s lips. He didn’t miss how Lex’s pupils dilated, how his breathing hitched. Kal pushed the moment.

“Think about it, Lex,” he said, his hands coming up to rest on Lex’s hips. “You and me? We could rule this city.” He pulled Lex a little bit closer. Lex didn’t resist, his eyes still locked on Kal’s.

“Clark,” Lex protested weakly, but he didn’t move away. Lex’s hands came up automatically to mirror his, one on each of Kal’s hips.

“It’s Kal now,” he corrected, a slight edge to his tone.

“Kal,” Lex started, but he never got to say whatever he was thinking because Kal leaned down and pressed his lips to his. Lex seemed to melt into him, a soft moan escaping his throat as Kal’s hands slid from his hips up his back, one holding him flush to Kal’s body while the other continued upward to cradle Lex’s head. Kal was surprised and pleased at Lex’s reaction. He deepened the kiss, encouraging Lex gently to open his mouth, his tongue gliding over his. Kal could kiss Lex forever, but unfortunately humans need to breathe much more often than he does, so Lex pulled back for air after a long moment.

“Come on,” Kal urged, taking advantage of Lex’s slight daze, “let’s get a drink.”


End file.
